On the seventy-fifth anniversary, the authors of Pulitzer Prize
finalist The Eleventh Day unravel the mysteries of Pearl Harbor to
expose the scapegoating of the admiral who was in command the day 2,000
Americans died, report on the continuing struggle to restore his lost
honor--and clear President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the charge that he
knew the attack was coming.
The Japanese onslaught on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 devastated
Americans and precipitated entry into World War II. In the aftermath,
Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, was
relieved of command, accused of negligence and dereliction of
duty--publicly disgraced.
But the Admiral defended his actions through eight investigations and
for the rest of his long life. The evidence against him was less than
solid. High military and political officials had failed to provide
Kimmel and his Army counterpart with vital intelligence. Later, to hide
the biggest U.S. intelligence secret of the day, they covered it up.
Following the Admiral's death, his sons--both Navy veterans--fought on
to clear his name. Now that they in turn are dead, Kimmel's grandsons
continue the struggle. For them, 2016 is a pivotal year.
With unprecedented access to documents, diaries and letters, and the
family's cooperation, Summers' and Swan's search for the truth has taken
them far beyond the Kimmel story--to explore claims of duplicity and
betrayal in high places in Washington.
A Matter of Honor is a provocative story of politics and war, of a man
willing to sacrifice himself for his country only to be sacrificed
himself. Revelatory and definitive, it is an invaluable contribution to
our understanding of this pivotal event.
The book includes forty black-and-white photos throughout the text.
